Bray Cary
| Bray Cary | |
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| Born |
Albert Bray Cary June 15, 1948 Clifton Forge, Virginia |
| Alma mater | West Virginia University |
Bray Cary, born June 15, 1948, is a US-based media and sports marketing entrepreneur and the President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of West Virginia Media Holdings, a multi-media company serving over 90% of West Virginia. In 1984, he founded Creative Sports, a sports & marketing production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Creative Sports was acquired by ESPN in 1994. Cary is credited as the architect of the growth of NASCAR through a $2.4B deal with FOX and NBC in 1999 and a historic Internet contract between NASCAR and Turner/AOL in 2000. Since 2008, Cary has served as a member of the board of directors of EQT Corporation, an energy corporation traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Cary currently resides in Charleston, West Virginia, and continues to be a strong advocate for the state’s economic development. He is the host for Decision Makers, a statewide weekly public affairs television program that features West Virginia’s leading government, business and community leaders and covers topics important to the state and its citizens such as the economy, education, health and transportation. He delivered the December 2000 commencement speech at WVU and the 2004 convocation speech at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia. In 2002, Cary was inducted into the West Virginia University Business Hall of Fame, an award that “recognizes individuals with strong ties to West Virginia who have made significant impacts on the business world, demonstrated leadership and serve as a role model for students and business entrepreneurs”. He is also a past member of the West Virginia University Foundation Board and the West Virginia University Board of Advisors.
Cary was born in Clifton Forge, Virginia, on June 15, 1948. His early life was spent in three West Virginia towns, Huntington, Madison and Hinton. Attending Hinton High school, he wrote for the Hinton Daily News, an eight-page local paper that served Summers County, West Virginia. Graduating in 1966, he wrote an essay on his desire to pursue a degree in journalism; an essay he later credited with helping him earn a scholarship to West Virginia University. During college Cary worked in WVU’s office of Intercollegiate Athletics, combining his interests in journalism and sports. He graduated in 1970, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in public administration in 1971.
After graduating from WVU, Cary served as assistant commissioner in the Sun Belt Conference, a collegiate athletic conference associated with the NCAA’s Division 1. During the years he worked there, Cary began the Sun Belt Conference Television Network, producing their sports programming offerings in house and achieving profitability for the network within the first year.
In 1984, Cary left the Sun Belt Conference and founded Creative Sports, a sports marketing and production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his years running Creative Sports, the company promoted and handled collegiate athletic television broadcasts in the Atlantic 10 and Big West conferences.
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